Falling
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: For Olivia Benson, her worst nightmare has happened. But for Elliot Stabler, his is just beginning...


Mwhaha, here we go again! I got the idea for this little story while reading several different kidnapping stories from my favorite shows, and this one demanded to be written. Please enjoy, and don't forget to leave a nice little review! Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: Hinkle finkle dinkle doo! Oh, you're reading this? Well, ya'll know they aren't mine, so just go read the story!

This first chapter is for **Kelly, Rach, Jess,** and **Confused**, cause even though she doesn't read SVU fiction, she's reading and helping me with this one. Thanks, everyone!

"He's going home with me," Olivia stated stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared defiantly at her coworkers. "He's terrified, and he needs to be somewhere familiar, somewhere that he'll feel safe."

"But Olivia," Cragen protested, "you have to go back to work eventually. And the brass will raise hell about two partners living together. I just don't see it happening. I'm sorry."

Her heart sank, but she shook her head and looked her boss dead in the eye. "I'm sorry, Don, but right now I don't care what the brass or anyone else thinks. This is about what's best for him, and right now, going home with me is in his best interest."

Cragen opened his mouth, but before he could utter a syllable, John Munch stepped in. "Cap, Liv's got a point," Munch pointed out softly. "She is the only one he is responding to. If we take that away, it could push him over the edge. I have to agree with Liv." Fin stepped away from where he leaned against the wall and stood beside Olivia, his body language showing where he stood in the argument.

Suddenly Olivia's arms fell to her side, and her eyes welled up with tears. "Don, he has to come with me. For six months, I had no idea where he was, or if he was even alive. Now he's here, and he's hurt and terrified beyond what any of us can imagine. He's actually letting me try to help him. It would be beyond cruel for anyone to take that away from him," she whispered, and Munch's arm went around her waist.

"Olivia," Don said desperately. "You heard the doctors. He needs constant, round the clock care-"

"Which I can give him," Olivia interrupted.

"What will you do for money?" Cragen countered, and Olivia's shoulders slumped. "If you are staying with him, and you're not working, what will you do for food, for rent?"

Munch and Fin exchanged glances, and Munch stepped forward and said, "We'll help her. Elliot needing her is more important than the job, if it will help him get better faster."

Olivia looked at the men beside her in awe, and they both smiled reassuringly at her.

Cragen sighed and looked at his detectives. "Olivia, are you sure? Have you considered every aspect of this? Nightmares, getting him to eat, doctor's appointments."

She nodded confidently.

They stood in a somber silence, contemplating their next moves, then a terrified scream pierced the silence. Olivia recognized the scream, and she bolted into Elliot's room, her legs shaking and her stomach churning.

"Hey, hey, hey," Olivia cooed as she climbed onto the bed and pulled Elliot into her arms, gently caressing his back. "You're okay, sweetheart. You're okay."

He let out a choked sob and buried his face in her shoulder, his hands forming fists as he balled the front of her shirt in his hands.

She slowly rocked him back and forth and hummed into his ear, blinking rapidly in an effort to dispel the tears that threatened to fall. Even as she held him, she couldn't believe that he was really there with her, for her to hold and touch. It seemed like just yesterday when they realized that he had been abducted, when in reality it had been nearly seven months ago. Those seven months had been the hardest seven months she had ever been forced to endure, and she couldn't even imagine the hell her best friend had been subjected to. But the injuries, both emotionally and physically, spoke for themselves.

She lightly ran her palm over his back, and she shuddered as she felt the bandages through the thin material of the hospital issued gown. He sighed tearfully, and she kissed the top of his head and caressed the back of his neck with her fingertips.

At the door of the room, Cragen, Fin and Munch all stood as they watched Olivia comfort her partner. "You still think it's a bad idea?" Munch whispered to Cragen, and the old man shook his head and walked away, before anyone could see the tears that shone in his eyes.

Olivia felt Elliot go limp in her arms, and she leaned back against the pillows, making sure that he was comfortable before she draped her arms around him and closed her eyes. But sleep was a luxury that remained beyond her grasp. All she could think about was how small and frightened Elliot had looked when they had finally found and rescued him.

_Olivia's heart was racing as she followed Goren and Eames into the dark and dusky warehouse, her pulse racing faster with every step she took. Elliot was here. He just had to be._

_Off to her right, she saw Munch and Fin follow Logan and Barek into a different section of the building, but she kept her focus on finding and getting her partner out of the nightmare he was trapped in._

_The entire building was silent. Then a man's harsh voice floated through the air, and everyone froze in place._

"You stupid little bitch!" _the man snarled, and Olivia's blood boiled when she heard Elliot cry out in pain. She took a step in the direction of the noises, but Bobby shot a hand out to stop her._

"Don't!" _he hissed, but Olivia wrenched her arm free and took off toward the sound of her partner's voice, her heart pounding in her ears as she took each step. She skidded to a stop in front of several doors, and she stared at them, gripping the gun in her hand until her fingers ached._

Please El, _she thought desperately. _Make a sound. Tell me where you are. Please.

_Then she heard it. A soft whimper from behind the second door. She raised the gun and slowly pushed the door open, ignoring the creaking sound the movement made._

"Elliot?" _she called out softly as her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room. She took a step, then another, her heart rising into her throat and her hands trembling from the harsh grip that she kept on her gun. Something moved in the corner of the room, and Olivia jumped, then squinted her eyes_. "El?" _she called again._

_There was another soft whimper, and Olivia recognized the owner of the sound immediately. Forcing her legs to move as fast as possible, she scrambled to the darkest corner in the room, falling to her knees in front of the form that was huddled against the wall._

"Elliot?" _she whispered, and she was overjoyed when a pair of familiar blue eyes came up to meet hers. She tucked her gun into the holster at her hip and reached out for her partner, pulling him quickly into her arms. After a brief moment, Olivia reluctantly released him and grabbed her radio, whispering into it._

"Goren? I've got him. We're in-" _But before she could finish her sentence, a shot rang out, and Olivia instinctively covered her partner, shielding him with her body._

"Hello there, Detective Benson," _the cruel voice greeted her cordially_. "I'm going to need you to back away from Elliot there."

"Go to hell!" _Olivia spat, flinching as a bullet entered the wall a few inches from her head._

_This time when the man spoke, his voice was hateful and dripped with venom_. "I'm going to give you to the count of three to get away from my little bitch there," _he snarled, and Olivia reached for the gun at her hip. But as her hand brushed the cool metal, the man ejected another bullet into the floor directly in front of her._

"Don't even think about it, bitch. I'll put a bullet in his head before you could even aim, so don't bother," _he sneered, and Olivia slowly removed her hand from the gun, glaring hatefully at the man in front of her._ "One more chance to save your own ass. One.."

_Olivia saw Mike and Carolyn enter the room, but before she could warn them, the man turned around and aimed his gun at Carolyn. He squeezed the trigger, but Mike shoved Carolyn out of harm's way, crying out as the bullet tore into his vulnerable flesh. The man turned back around to Olivia and Elliot, and Olivia watched in horror as Carolyn caught her partner in her arms, calling his name as they sank to the floor, trying desperately to staunch the flow of blood._

"Two…" _He stepped closer to Elliot and Olivia, and she closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable. At least she will have died protecting the most important person in her whole miserable life._

"Three, asshole," _Alex Eames snarled from the door, and before the man could aim his gun, she pulled the trigger, sending one bullet straight through his brain. As soon as his body hit the floor, officers swarmed the room, and Olivia and Elliot were immediately surrounded by their coworkers and friends._

_Several paramedics quickly fought their way through the swarm, and Olivia reluctantly allowed them to pull Elliot out of her arms and lay him on a stretcher. Light flooded the room, and for the first time, Olivia got a look at the injuries that had been inflicted onto her partner, her Elliot._

_Tears poured down her cheeks, but she gently grabbed Elliot's cold hand and ran alongside the stretcher as the paramedics wheeled him out of the hellhole that he had been trapped in for nearly seven months._

Olivia sighed and kissed Elliot's forehead, allowing her lips to linger there for several long seconds before she readjusted the blanket around his still trembling form. He whimpered almost imperceptibly, and she rested her forehead against his and caressed his clean shaven cheek with her palm, ignoring the tear that slid down her cheek unchecked.

Sleep still eluded her, but she stayed on the bed with Elliot, her arms still wrapped protectively around him.

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Munch was quiet as he carefully slipped into his bed and under the blankets, drawing the sleeping woman into his arms. She mumbled in her sleep and turned over in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

He wondered if Olivia was able to sleep, even after getting Elliot back safely. For seven months, he, Fin, Cragen, Casey and Alex had watched as she slowly fell apart, her heart breaking a little more every day. She would go to work, put in her hours, and go home. And even though no one said anything, they all knew that when she slept in the crib, she cried.

He held Alex and carefully turned over onto his side, so that her back was to his front, and wrapped his arms securely around her middle. He tried to be happy about Elliot's return, but he had seen the wounds and Elliot's new demeanor. He knew that whatever Williams had done to Elliot, they were only seeing the tip of it.

But he also knew that, whatever was coming, Olivia was going to be there for her partner, come what may. She would never give up on him. And that gave him and everyone else great hope for the future.

He gently brushed her thick blond hair away from her neck with his fingertips and kissed Alex's sensitive skin, smiling when she shivered a little and burrowed further into his arms. He smirked and kissed her neck again, and she moaned and turned over in his arms, growling sleepily at him.

"You know," she mumbled sleepily. "I could have you arrested for interrupting my beauty sleep."

He chuckled and pressed his lips to hers, and she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

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Olivia felt him shudder in her arms, and she snapped her eyes open and ran her hand through his hair, murmuring softly. "It's okay, Elliot," she mumbled sleepily. "I've got you. You're safe now."

She jumped in surprise when she felt him cuddle closer into her and whisper her name. "Olivia."

She looked down at him in delighted surprise and kissed his forehead, saying, "Yes, El. It's me. I'm right here." The doctors had told her that the medications that they were giving him would probably have him sleeping for several days, and they had warned her that even if he woke up, he probably wouldn't recognize her right away.

So she felt pure joy when he actually remembered whose arms he was cradled in, and this time when the tears began to fall, they were tears of happiness, mingled with only a little pain.

TBC...

A/N: So, what do ya'll think? Like it? Okay? Lemme know, bunnies! Bye for now!


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